Specifications

A spec has to be specific or it’s worthless. If after a spec is published it becomes a apparent that the spec isn’t specific enough then a new revision of the spec must be revised to address the lack of specificity. If the spec is frozen at a certain revision then the only way to address the inadequacies is by starting over with something else.

Now, if people need to keep contacting the author of the spec for clarification of any points then the spec isn’t specific enough to be frozen. Actually it probably isn’t specific enough to be published as a spec and needs to remain as an RFC until a person can read it and implement what is being specified without having to write to the author for clarification.

Now some folks have some brilliant ideas but admittedly write shitty specs. These people should never, ever freeze their specs because doing so can only cause babies to be thrown out with bathwater. If that one thing can be understood then perhaps a lot of what one might otherwise view as a flame or a personal attack can actually be understood as frustration being vented.